This invention relates to trailer hitching systems, and more particularly, to an improved trailer hitch arrangement for stabilizing a trailer and an upright load thereon with respect to a towing vehicle pulling the trailer.
Various types of trailer stabilizers have been proposed heretofore in which apparatus cooperating with a towing vehicle and operating in conjunction with a conventional swivel-type trailer hitch has served to reduce or substantially eliminate sidesway of the trailer pulled by the towing vehicle. Certain such stabilizing arrangements have used cables and the like extending between the towing and towed vehicles. Typical exemplary prior art trailer stabilizers may be found in the following United States patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Date Inventor ______________________________________ 2,554,801 5/1951 Vogel 2,612,382 9/1952 Landis 3,338,595 8/1967 Bogie 3,362,727 1/1968 Malherbe 3,394,949 7/1968 Gearhart ______________________________________
Prior trailer stabilizers, including those disclosed in the above-listed patents, are deficient insofar as the transportation of a relatively narrow, upright load, such as a motorcycle, on a trailer is concerned, especially in those instances in which the upright load may be of generally greater width than the trailer supporting the load, since the trailer then might be unable to accommodate guy wires or the like for stabilizing the load against tilting laterally when the trailer is being pulled through a turn by the towing vehicle. As will be appreciated, uncontrolled lateral tilting may well result in overturning of the load and possibly of the trailer. On the other hand, it is highly desirable that a trailer for transporting a two-wheeled motorcycle be constructed as narrow as is practicable so that it may be of relatively light weight, may be lifted manually and may be stored in a relatively small space, such as the rear deck of an automobile, pick-up truck, or the like.